Armstrong said the International Cycling Union (UCI) had not been involved in his doping cover-ups and said former team-mate Tyler Hamilton's claim that he had told him a positive EPO test at the 2001 Tour de Suisse would be "taken care of" was "not true."

"There was no paying off of the lab, there was no secret meeting with the lab director, the UCI did not make that go away," he said.

However he confirmed former masseuse Emma O'Reilly's revelations about how team doctors back-dated a prescription for saddle-sore cream to cover up his corticosteroid use.

He apologised to O'Reilly, saying "she got run over".

O'Reilly's allegations were first published in a French book, LA Confidentiel, and led to a libel case when they were published in the UK Sunday Times in 2004.

'Didn't feel like cheating'

The former world champion said his attitude to doping had been one of denial.

He said he never felt he was cheating, and described that lack of awareness as "the scariest [thing]."

"The definition of cheat is to gain an advantage on a rival or foe. I didn't view it that way. I viewed it as a level playing field."

Armstrong said the millions of people who supported him throughout his cycling career and during his work with the Livestrong foundation had "every right to feel betrayed."

"It's my fault, I will spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologise to people," he said.

"The important thing is that I am beginning to understand. I see the anger in people."

Armstrong was stripped of his last major title overnight, with the International Olympic Commission asking him to return his time trial bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Late last year the International Cycling Union (UCI) effectively erased Armstrong from the cycling history books when it decided not to appeal sanctions imposed on him by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

A damning USADA report, including hundreds of pages of eyewitness testimony, emails, financial records and laboratory analysis of blood samples, said Armstrong helped orchestrate the most sophisticated doping program in the history of sport.

USADA chief executive Travis Tygart called Armstrong's admission of doping "a small step in the right direction" for the shamed cyclist.

"But if he is sincere in his desire to correct his past mistakes, he will testify under oath about the full extent of his doping activities."

World Anti-Doping Agency president John Fahey has described the interview as a controlled public relations exercise.

"The nature of the questions were designed so that he didn't have to answer any tough ones," Mr Fahey said.

"He did admit however that he was a cheat and nevertheless tried to cover all that up by saying he was only doing it because everybody was doing it and he was only levelling the playing field."